Karnataka's poultry industry to revive in six weeks

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Karnataka’s poultry industry, which is losing Rs 50 lakh a day for over a month now after a bird flu scare took a toll on chicken and egg sales across the state, will need another six weeks to recover, according to an industry body.

“There was never any bird flu epidemic in the state. While egg consumption is gradually increasing, the industry is losing money because people are still wary about buying eggs and chicken. Egg sales have dropped by about 20-30 percent,” said B.R.Sainath, zonal chairman, Bangalore zone, National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC).

Karnataka produces 1.3 crore eggs each day and Bangalore consumes about 45 lakh eggs every day. The price of one kilogram of chicken hovers around Rs. 22 now, while production costs hover around Rs. 65 for a kilogram. The price of one egg on Friday was Rs. 2.75, while production costs hover around Rs. 2.80 per egg, leading to losses, Sainath said.

“People can buy eggs and chicken without any hesitation. The state government moved fast to contain the bird flu outbreak at the Central Poultry Development Organization (CPDO), located 40 kms away from Bangalore. The disease did not spread to any commercial farm anywhere in the state,” said Sainath.

"Moreover, chicken prepared in Indian style is cooked at a very high temperature, around 70 degrees centrigrade, and this automatically kills viruses, if any," Sainath said.

The bird flu scare hit the industry around the Diwali festive season, when egg and chicken consumption is lower across households. “We expect sales to recover in about one-and-a-half-months,” Sainath said.